In modern communication and computer networks, data exchange between programs and computers is a vital element. Different programs, computers and processors exchange data without human intervention. This kind of communication is usually called machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. Different networks and protocols are used in different environments. On the Internet, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) are basic protocols used in communication. TCP takes care of assembling and disassembling the data to be transmitted in packets and reliability. IP handles framing and addressing so that packets are delivered to the correct destination. Above TCP/IP, different application protocols may be used such as client/server protocols, for example.
An example of a network technology where M2M communication is widely applied is a low-power wireless network, such as an IEEE 802.15.4 based embedded and sensor network. These networks are very energy efficient, and the chip technology is cheap. For this reason the technology is making its way to embedded devices very quickly for automation, measurement, tracking and control, for example. The use of these networks in buildings and other environments has increased in recent years.
Devices belonging to an embedded network may need to communicate with a server in the Internet, for example. For this reason, the devices are equipped with means for communicating over the Internet. Cellular systems, such the GSM (Global System for Communication) mobile phone system, are widely used for machine-to-machine communications for applications such as remote machine monitoring, automatic meter infrastructures and asset management. In M2M systems, the devices may include a cellular system modem for communicating with a backend M2M service of some kind. An example of a modem is a GPRS (General packet radio service) modem. Although some M2M applications may use SMS (Short Message Service) for communication, this is a very limited solution. The majority of applications needs IP connectivity, and thus uses IP (Internet Protocol) over GPRS. Respective connections are used in other types of cellular systems such as systems based on CDMA (Code division multiple access) or Third Generation (3G) systems such as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) or LTE (Long Term Evolution).
The present and still widely used Internet Protocol IPv4 has the drawback of having a limited address space as it uses 32 bits for addresses. Machine-to-machine applications often involve the monitoring of very large numbers of devices, which must be cheap and usually run off of battery power. In order to deal with the large number of nodes, IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) is clearly needed for its superior addressing scheme. In IPv6, 128 bits are used for addresses.
Today's solution for enabling GSM devices with IP using GPRS is causing major problems in the M2M industry and for telecom operators. GPRS is complex, reserves continuous resources from the GSM network, is too expensive, and requires too much power from M2M devices of low-power wireless networks. Although the IP data carried over GPRS could be somewhat compressed and made more efficient, this does not fix the majority of problems associated with GPRS.